Modern Electronics (was Re: List charter mods & headcount... ; -))

From: vrs <vrs_at_msn.com>
Date: Sat Jun 19 19:55:54 2004

> Chips are designed by a group of people these days, not by one individual.

If it is a real chip design, and not just a big PLD.

> These groups are split up for other projects when the first one is over ,
> quit and find new jobs, or just get laid off and scatter to the wind. They
> leave behind the blueprints needed to manufacture the part, operating
> parameters, bug notes, etc so the knowledge of what the part does is still
> with the company and is transferred if the company is sold or goes chapter
> 11. The problems come when the chip is no longer commercially sold or
> supported, things tend to get lost.

I don't think the IP is reliably transferred once the team is disbanded, let
alone through a chapter 11. Often only the legal "rights" persist in a
useable form.

Manufacturing data may not include enough data to reconstruct "how it
works".

The lifetimes of new designs (say, for a piece of consumer electronics), are
generally quite short.

    Vince
Received on Sat Jun 19 2004 - 19:55:54 BST